Alone
by pinkaffinity
Summary: She was missing.
1. Chapter 1

Korra had fallen onto her side when the doors slammed her inside, caging her like a wild animal. She shook hard, her breathing hot and fast, wisps of fire still tickling her throat. It was dark in the back of the Satomobile.

And she was alone.

"We got your back, Korra," Mako had said when they'd found her crying, alone. She only let herself cry when nobody could see.

They'd promised her that she wasn't alone, that they would work as a team, that they would save the city together. But what if she couldn't keep them together? She hadn't, had she? She'd lost them, let them be arrested, couldn't get them out.

She couldn't beat Tarrlok.

She couldn't save her friends.

She couldn't save herself.

She couldn't.

Her face pressed against the hard metal floor as she tried to roll, tried to sit back up, but she was so tired and her body hurt and her face stung. She was bleeding. Alone. She wanted a friend, she wanted advice, and she wanted Aang. She'd always wanted her past lives to come to her, to tell her what to do, to reassure her that she was doing okay and that she was the Avatar for a reason and that they loved her too, but she'd never wanted it so much as now. She craved their presence in the dark, in the cold.

But they did not come.

She was alone.

Her tears were hot and they stung her cuts, mean and fierce, a fresh reminder that she'd been right all along. She was a failure.

Korra cried.

And Korra screamed.

Alone.


	2. Chapter 2

Her only one was mad. Naga pressed her face against her best friend, her only one, and felt it, felt the mad. It was hot.

Her only one liked to run off alone. She did this a lot. She got in trouble when she did this. Sometimes she got hurt or sad. Naga growled when she pressed in because she wanted to help. She did not want to see her leave again. She did not want her hurt. She did not like her only one to be sad.

But her only one had told her to stay so she obeyed because Naga was good. She was a good girl.

She walked in a circle because circles were fun and lay down, resting her head on her paws. She waited.

She was a very good girl.

There were big booms, and it made Naga's fur stand up. She stood, ready, but she waited. She waited for the whistle. She felt her only one inside, scared and alone, and she wanted to help because she was a good girl. But she had to wait because she was a good girl. She waited for the whistle.

The booms stopped.

There were more bad sounds.

She heard her only one yelling, and she could not be a good girl anymore because her only one was sad. Naga wanted to help. She needed to help. So she ran inside and smelled her only one, familiar and warm, and she went to where she should be.

She did not find her only one, though.

She was gone.

And Naga was alone.


	3. Chapter 3

Her hands trembled as she held the letter, as she read the words written so finely on parchment so thick. She dropped it on the floor and looked up, broken and afraid.

"Ton…" Senna said.

Tenzin always sent them letters, one every few days, updating them on Korra's progress. As a father, he knew how alone they felt with Korra gone, so far from them. Korra wrote to them as well, and they cherished their daughter's words, but sometimes she lied or disguised her feelings. Tenzin, however, always told the truth.

Tonraq walked to his wife and he knew. He knew before Senna even said anything, but she continued anyway.

"She's missing," she said, tears filling her big, blue eyes—the same eyes that she had given their baby girl. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close because there wasn't anything else he could do.

It had been a long time since Korra had gone. It had hurt, but it was necessary, and they understood why Korra had to leave them. Most days, they were fine. Others, they felt a little more worried, missed her a little more than usual. But they could always anticipate her next letter, the fun they'd have sitting next to the fire, reading of her adventures and composing their reply. When they did this, it was like Korra was with them, like those rare weekends when she was able to leave the compound and visit. They'd eat seaweed noodles and laugh about Korra's stories of the guards and hug and love and be a family, like a normal family. Together.

Tonraq and Senna had these moments, and they clung to them. It's what made them okay with Korra being gone. It's what got them through. But now, she was more than just gone.

"Our baby girl's missing," she mumbled into his chest.

They clung to each other.

Alone.


End file.
